Every day, we remind our patients about the impor-tance of controlling medi-cal risk factors such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. But how long as it been since you’ve had a check-up? And really, with the stress of juggling work and family, who has time?

Starting today, taking care of ourselves will become a little easier with the opening of the first Hart-ford HealthCare Employee Health & Wellness Center on the campus of Hartford Hospital.

The Center is located in the Medical Office Building at 85 Seymour Street, on the ground floor in the former Bank of America location.

“I am so pleased to be able to offer our staff the same extraordinary care that we deliver to our patients every day,’’ said Jeffrey A. Flaks, president and CEO of Hartford Hos-pital. “The Hartford HealthCare Em-ployee Health & Wellness Center truly exemplifies our core values by further helping members of our hospital family take better care of themselves and their families.’’

The primary care practice will be operated by Hartford Medical Group and staffed by a full-time physician, as well as a nurse and other clini-cal professionals. Staggered hours of operation are designed to accom-modate several shifts.

Employees who do not have a pri-mary care doctor are encouraged to make an appointment to establish a

primary care provider relationship at the new center and arrange for routine physicals.

Walk-in service and same-day ap-pointments are available for treat-ment of minor injuries or illnesses.

While the center is available to treat everything from poison ivy to heart-burn, hospital leaders say they hope staff members will take advantage of routine screenings and ongoing dis-ease management that can make a huge difference in preventing or con-trolling complications from chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“We want to make sure that our staff has access to the same high-quality medical care that they pro-vide our patients every day,’’ said Dr. Kent Stahl, medical director and CEO of HMG. “Sometimes we get so busy that it’s difficult to find time to care for ourselves. We hope this convenient, full-service center will make it easier for our staff to attend to their own health. ’’

Care is available to any Hartford HealthCare employee regardless of insurance coverage, and to adult family members who are covered under an HHC plan. For appoint-ments, please call 860-696-0090.

The center will not treat work-re-lated injuries, and staff members with work-related issues are asked to continue to report to Occupation-al Health Services.

RxTraA publication for the staff of Hartford Hospital October 8, 2012 Vol. 68 No. 38

Please join us for a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on Tuesday, Oct. 23

from 2 to 4 p.m.

New Employee Health & Wellness Center Opens Today

The Connecticut Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has awarded the Hartford Hospital Mul-

tifaith Cha-pel a 2012 Merit Award for Design Excellence.

The chapel opened in Au-gust of 2011.

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Residents and Staff Get To Know Each Other at Cedar Mountain CommonsSeptember 9- 15 was National Assist-ed Living Week and Cedar Mountain Commons in Newington celebrated with a “Getting To Know You Resi-dent Display.” CMC is a senior liv-ing neighborhood owned by Hart-ford Hospital and Jefferson House, the hospital’s long-term care and rehabilitation facility for seniors.

Throughout the week, 24 assisted living residents manned personal tables in the Community Room, dis-playing a variety of meaningful items to showcase a bit about themselves.

Staff, families and other residents enjoyed conversations about hob-bies, family artifacts, and collec-tions, and many discovered that they had many things in common.

Multifaith Chapel Wins Architectural Design Award

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Construction On ScheduleSteel is going up now for the SkyBridge which will run from the new staff garage on Hudson Street across Jef-ferson Street (see architect’s rendering on left). The new garage will open the first week of January; the new employee fitness center will open in mid-February; and the SkyBridge will open at the end of February.

Oct. 7-13: Health Care Security and Safety Week

Oct. 8-12: Materials Management Week

Compliance Questions or Concerns?If you need to obtain information about compliance issues or raise concerns regarding internal and regulatory practices or policies,

please contact your supervisor or call the ComplianceLine, a confidential and toll-free service, at

1-855-HHC-OCAP or online at HHC.OCAPComplianceLine.com

Thanks to all of our team members in these two important departments.

United Way Pledge Drive Extended

Our campaign was supposed to end last Friday, but we have not met our goals. We have raised $169,092 towards a goal of $230,000, and 14% of our employees par-ticipated when our goal was 35%. We’ve decided to extend the campaign to Oct. 19. Re-member, we have some great incentive prizes for all those who pledge in-cluding a Choice Time day off; a 12-week personal fitness trainer/nutrition counseling program; and one week of free fitness classes. In addition, first time donors and donors who increase their do-nations from last year can win assigned parking spots in the employee garage. For more information, contact Sue Klein, campaign chair, at 545-1126, or visit http://intranet.harthosp.org/unitedway.htm.

Celebrate CESI Tuesday

Please join us on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 2 p.m. in the ERC to celebrate the state’s $15 million award to Hartford Hospital for the expansion of CESI (Center for Educa-tion, Simulation and Innovation).

IT Service Request Training Oct. 12 & 19 Training sessions are available for users of the new IT Service Request System. Training for managers/approvers will be Friday, Oct. 12, and for staff/requesters will be Friday, Oct. 19. Classes are in the Conklin Building, floor 5, Training Room A. Please e-mail Bethany at bclancy@harthosp.org to register.

Depression Screening at IOL on Oct. 11On Thursday, Oct. 11, members of the clinical staff at the Institute of Living will offer free confidential screening for de-pression in the Assessment Center on the Ground Floor of Donnelly from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Participants complete a questionnaire and discuss the results with a professional. Advanced registra-tion is recommended; call 860-545-7454.

Oct. 11 Lunch & Learn: Risks for Breast CancerDo you know your risks for developing breast cancer and how to reduce them? Bring your lunch and join us on Thurs-day, Oct. 11 to hear Paige Woodruff, on-cology nurse navigator for the breast pro-gram. 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. in Special Dining Room A. Call 5-1519 for more info.

Support Group for Hispanic FamiliesThe Family Resource Center is starting a support group for Hispanic family mem-bers of those dealing with mental health issues the second Thursday of the month from 5-6 p.m. This month, that is Thurs-day, Oct. 11. If you have any questions, please contact: Dr. Mara De Maio, 860-545-7939 or Mallory Fergione at 860-545-7416, or Mary Cameron at 860-545-7665.

Car Raffle Tickets in Lobby Join Mike Stacy from the WRCH Lite 100.5 on Thursday (Oct. 11) from 1-3 p.m. in the lobby to purchase a $50 car raffle ticket. The prize is a brand new 2012 Fiat 500 Lounge! Your donation goes to the Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center. The winner will be drawn Oct. 29.

Martin Short Live! Oct. 13Join us for MARTIN SHORT LIVE at the 15th Annual Nite of Lite Laughter, Satur-day, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. at the Bushnell. All pro-ceeds benefit the Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center. Tickets start at $37.50 - purchase them online at www.bushnell.org or call the Bushnell at 860-987-5900.

Black Men’s Health Day Join us for information sessions, health screenings, networking, healthy cooking demonstrations, and more on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the ERC. Attendance is free but registration is required. Call 860-545-1888 or visit us at harthosp.org/health_day.

Whale Tickets Available in Auxiliary Store Purchases of Connecticut Whale vouch-ers, good for any game, are available in the Auxiliary Store. All tickets just $13, and $5 of that goes to the Auxiliary. Open-

ing night is Fri-day, Oct. 12, with C o n n e c t i c u t Whale vs. Bridge-port Sound Ti-gers. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. at the XL Cen-ter. There’ll be

$1 hot dogs and $2 beers until the end of the first period. What to wear? Can’t go wrong wearing Whaler green!

Condo for Rent South Windsor. First floor: bedroom, bath-room, living room, dining room and kitch-en. Second floor: loft. Conveniently locat-ed. Amenities include indoor and outdoor pools, sauna, fitness center. Please call 860-828-5520.

Happening at Hartford Hospital

Questions or comments about RxTra? Contact editor Annie Emanuelli at aemanuelli@harthosp.org or 860-545-2199